Ratchet and Clank: Before the Bleeding Sun
by Cortana Hansen
Summary: Reboot AU. "You have done the gravest deed that anyone in this universe has ever done. And now... you must be punished, my son." These are the words that ring inside XJ-0461's head even centuries after hearing them. But there's trouble brewing in the Solana Galaxy... and XJ-0461 may be the only one who can stop it.- Followed by the upcoming Ratchet and Clank: Nexus.
1. Prologue

**I'm rewriting the first few chapters because they kinda sucked, I guess. Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. No flames, please. On a side note, while Ratchet has his physical design from the PS4 game, he actually wears his outfit from the original Ratchet and Clank game in this story. Until he gets the Protosuit. The beginning part of the Veldin level is also similar to the original game.**

 **. . .**

 _"I am very disappointed in you, XJ-0461. You... you have done the gravest deed that anyone in this universe has ever done. And now… you must be punished, my son. I am sorry I have to do this to you. But it is for the good of the Clock. For the good of the universe. You are hereby banished from this day forth from the Clock until you can find some way to redeem yourself. I can only hope you can..."_

 _Many centuries later…_

XJ-0461 opened his robotic eyes, scanning the area. Beside him was a large robotic arm holding a Combuster. "State your prime ob…" The tiny robot stared up at the arm in puzzlement.

As if it could anticipate XJ-0461's confusion, the mechanical arm suddenly emitted a bright, red cone of light, before slowly scanning the little robot. He was quite impressed by the show of light. But sadly the luminous display was for a nefarious purpose (pun fully intended), and the poor robot nearly jumped as the facility's alarms suddenly went off.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the arm specified what exactly had happened. "Defect detected!" it blared seemingly as loudly as possible. "Preparing for immediate destruction, in three... two..."

XJ-0461, in a sheer panic, threw himself off the conveyor belt. Which, on second thought, may not have been the best solution, given that he hadn't bothered to check if there was anything for him to land on. He was lucky to land on a platform safely, however, and without checking his speed, he sprinted for escape.

"Oh, a defect," a voice said, echoing throughout the room. "Go play, Victor."

The echo of thundering footsteps chasing XJ-0461 announced the presence of a colossal machine. It had to be Victor.

"I'll get you, defect!" Victor called. "You can run, but you can't hide!"

XJ-0461 reached an air vent, which was luckily big enough for him. He had little time before Victor caught up. He pulled the panel off the vent and jumped inside, sliding down the tiny tunnel.

"If you think you're safe, defect, think again!" Victor shouted.

XJ-0461 reached the bottom, bumping the vent panel in the process. He kicked it off the vent and jumped out. He was in the hangar. "A ship. I need a ship." The little robot made his way to the nearest ship that was open. Inside sat a Blarg, who was busy texting when he should have been on patrol.

The Blarg saw XJ-0461 and screamed. "Ack! Robot!" The Blarg fell backwards out of the ship in a feeble attempt to escape.

XJ-0461 shrugged and pressed the button for the ship's ignition. The ship started up smoothly and the robot started piloting it away from the factory. XJ-0461 started to relax. He was going to make it, he was going to make it... suddenly a blast hit the ship from behind! XJ-0461 panicked. Was he going to crash? The engines sputtered a bit, but the ship continued flying.

"Computer, set coordinates for the Galactic Ranger home base," XJ-0461 ordered.

 _"Destination set,"_ the computer stated. _"We will never make it, but hey, what are you gonna do?"_

"Oh dear…"

That wasn't good in the slightest.

. . .

 _Veldin…_

The red, hot sun beat down on the desert planet. Anyone without air conditioning would be sweating more than a polar bear in Arizona at the moment. Except for the Horny Toads, who positively loved the heat. Of course, it was this particular day that Mr. Micron's ship battery decided to break down.

Ratchet adjusted a few wires in Mr. Micron's ship's hood, then closed it up. He turned to his client, the elderly Mr. Micron. Who was just in time, as always. "There ya go. Your battery is fixed. And I added a few modifications…"

"Oh no," the Tharpod said.

"It's nothing like that magnet thingamajig I hooked up to your ship last week, okay buddy?" Ratchet patted the ship. "I just modified the engines a bit for more mobility, more speed, more groove!"

"I don't think- ack!"

Ratchet shoved Mr. Micron into the ship's driver seat. Then he hopped into the passenger side. "C'mon, take her for a spin." Suddenly Ratchet spotted something in the sky at that moment. A ball of flames crashed violently some ways away from the garage. Tremors from the crash shook the garage. The Lombax frowned. "On second thought, I'll be right back."

Before the Tharpod could object, Ratchet jumped out of the ship and started running for the crash site, the claws of his furry feet digging into the sand. The Lombax ran down a bridge to the other side, where he bashed a few Horny Toads with his Omniwrench. The Toads were knocked out upon impact. Then Ratchet leapt to a ledge, and climbed up over it.

The Lombax leapt forward towards another ledge and clambered over with a little difficulty, but not too much. The next ledge was more difficult, as Ratchet would have to jump towards the rock wall and climb up to the top. He crouched down, and then delivered all his strength to his legs as he catapulted to the wall. The Lombax latched onto the rocky surface with his hands and feet and started climbing.

 _One, two… one, two…_

He almost slipped a few times, but managed to reach the top. "Finally!" Ratchet declared as he hauled himself up over the edge and plopped safely on the ground, resting for a moment before resuming his trek. As he ran along the sandy path, he spotted another pair of Horny Toads, who were not happy to see him in the slightest.

Ratchet bashed one up close and personal, then, taking a moment to aim, he threw his wrench at the other. The Horny Toad was hit immediately, and it ran off wailing in fear, leaving behind its unconscious companion. Ratchet, after retrieving his wrench, looked at the path ahead. And then he saw. A Blarg soldier stood a ways down the path, with his back to Ratchet, looking around.

Ratchet scrambled behind a rock, feeling a panic rise. If the Blarg were here… then that meant only one thing. His father tracked him down. Ratchet shook his head. At all costs, he couldn't let them find him.

Ratchet tiptoed up to the Blarg, who still had his back turned. He was talking to someone over the comm. "... no, I'm not there yet, Toby. Look, I don't know. Drek wants to make sure the defect won't escape-"

Ratchet smacked the Blarg in the back of the head. He then swiped and holstered the blaster that the soldier had with him, in case he needed it.

Maybe the Blarg weren't here for him. But if that was the case, then what were they here for?

Ratchet decided the answer lay in whatever crashed here. The Lombax bashed some more Blarg soldiers and Horny Toads before finally coming upon the crashed ship. Ratchet ran up to the ship and smashed the cockpit window with his Omniwrench.

 _"Five… four…"_ Ratchet spotted a tiny robot sitting in the pilot seat, deactivated. He quickly grabbed him and started running away from the ship just as it exploded. While the ship burned in a blaze of flames, Ratchet set the robot down and examined it closely.

"Hm… no vector shell damage," Ratchet observed. "Sisterboard appears to be intact."

The robot suddenly jerked awake, and sat up. "I must get to Aleero City! They are in danger!"

Ratchet frowned at him. "What? Who are you?"

The robot locked eyes with Ratchet, suddenly realising where he was. "Oh. Hello. My… erm, designation is XJ-0461."

"Um, right." Ratchet continued to frown. "How 'bout a nickname?"

"Perhaps we can worry about that later," XJ-0461 replied. "Right now there is a much more pressing matter."

"What do you mean?" Ratchet asked.

"The Blarg are going to destroy the Galactic Rangers!" XJ-0461 told him. "I must warn them."

"Huh… well, I think I can help you there," Ratchet pulled XJ-4061 to his feet. "C'mon, let's get you back to my garage. I'll get my ship and we can fly to Aleero City."

XJ-0461 nodded. Ratchet turned around and pointed to the golden metal pad on the back of his harness. "You probably won't be able to keep up with me by running, so you might as well take a ride on my back."

After a moment, XJ-0461 was settled on Ratchet's back.

"Here we go," Ratchet murmured.

Little did he know of the trials that would await them in the near future.


	2. I: Novalis, Part One

**Chapter two is up! :) And yes, quite a bit is being changed from the game. A lot more is gonna change in the future, too. This chapter isn't as long as I wanted it to be, but it's certainly longer than the previous. No flames please, but constructive criticism is appreciated.**

. . .

Ratchet was about to head back the route he came when a dropship landed right in the way. Out of the ship flocked a large group of Blarg soldiers, all fully armed and ready for battle.

"Uh, okay, guess we're not going that way," Ratchet remarked. He dodged the blaster fire and started headed down another path, one that he knew from experience also led back to his garage.

"Hang on. I'll get us back to the garage!" The Lombax bashed a few Horny Toads, still dodging blaster fire from the Blarg, before coming up on a Swingshot target. "Thank Orvus I brought my Swingshot with me…"

"Orvus?" XJ-0461 repeated as Ratchet grappled onto the target and swung to the other side. How could anyone outside the Clock know about Orvus?

"Oh, uh… Orvus is just part of some old legend made centuries ago," Ratchet told him. "I'll tell you more later."

The Lombax landed on the ground, and his ears twitched as he heard a voice say, "Fan out and find him! He couldn't have gotten far!"

Ratchet ran under the arch and spotted a pair of Blarg soldiers. One of them saw him immediately. "You're going down, Lombax!"

The soldiers started shooting at him. Ratchet jumped to the side to avoid the blaster fire. He then charged forth, gripping his wrench tightly. The Lombax leapt towards the nearest Blarg and swung, striking him in the face.

The Blarg fell backwards, knocked out. The other Blarg looked at his fallen companion, then at Ratchet. "You… your father's been looking for you!"

"And he'll never find me," Ratchet growled as he jumped forward and bashed the Blarg's face. After taking him out, Ratchet continued down the path.

"What did he mean?" XJ-0461 asked. "That your father has been looking for you?"

"If you know what's best for you, you won't bring this up again," Ratchet told him. "Got that?"

"I suppose," XJ-0461 replied, puzzled at the Lombax's rather rude response. Ratchet grappled to the other side of a gap with his Swingshot and more Blarg came around the bend.

"Get the Lombax!" one Blargian said.

Ratchet dodged their gun fire and switched to his blaster. With a few blasts and good aim, he quickly took down all the soldiers.

"You seem to have some experience in the battlefield," XJ-0461 remarked, impressed by the Lombax making short work of the Blarg.

"I _don't_ wanna talk about it," Ratchet retorted. He grappled around a bit with his Swingshot before getting to another piece of land. When he landed, a dropship flew over them. Ratchet looked up at it. "Hm… looks like a Model X62 Blarg dropship."

"Yes, you are correct," XJ-0461confirmed. Despite his curiosity about Ratchet's rather unusual knowledge and abilities, he decided not to press the matter further.

Ratchet grappled across another large gap to the other side, where his garage was waiting. There Mr. Micron still sat in his ship, trembling in his shell in terror. The Tharpod watched as a Blarg dropship landed just a few metres from the garage.

"I want a refund!" Mr. Micron screeched at the top of his lungs. Ratchet ignored Mr. Micron and instead ducked as XJ-0461 spoke, "Listen to me carefully, sir. Use your blaster to shoot the dropship's fuel tank. By doing that, the ship will blow up."

"Got it," Ratchet replied, aiming his blaster at the ship's tank and firing. The dropship blew up upon impact.

Ratchet ran up to the Tharpod. "Look buddy, I'm sorry but I gotta leave here. Now. You should do the same while you've got the chance."

Before Mr. Micron could even reply, Ratchet took off into his garage. The Lombax opened up his ship and shoved XJ-0461 in the co-pilot's seat. Then Ratchet hopped into the other seat. He closed up the ship and started the engines.

Within moments, they were off Veldin and headed for Kerwan. XJ-0461 turned to Ratchet, only to see a troubled expression on his face.

"Are you alright, sir…?" XJ-0461 realised that he didn't know the Lombax's name.

"Oh, yeah, I didn't tell you my name," Ratchet spoke. "I'm Ratchet."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ratchet," XJ-0461 told him.

Ratchet merely nodded in response. Neither of them said a word for a while. Then a beeping sound could be heard throughout the ship. Ratchet looked at an image on the screen installed in the dashboard. "That's strange. I'm picking up something from Novalis."

XJ-0461 looked at the scans as well. "It appears to be some sort of distress signal, but it is being jammed using a Blarg signal dampener."

Suddenly a blast hit their ship from behind. The engines sputtered, then shut down. Ratchet and XJ-0461 looked at each other with wide eyes.

The Ratchet turned his attention back to trying to pilot the ship. "With the engines down, we're gonna have to do an emergency landing. Hang on!"

. . .

 _Novalis…_

Ratchet pulled XJ-0461 out of the smoking wreckage, then surveyed the damage. "There's no fixing that wreck. And I'm a pretty good rocket mechanic."

"Your vote of confidence is comforting," XJ-0461 replied sarcastically. "Perhaps we could procure a ship from one of the inhabitants."

Ratchet looked up at the sky, where Blarg dropships were floating over the city ominously. Then he looked at the burning buildings not far away. Craters from missiles were strewn about the ground. Blackened, gnarled trees glowed as they burned in a tall inferno. And it all seemed totally deserted.

"If there are any left," Ratchet commented. "C'mon, let's go see if we can get some help."

XJ-0461 hopped onto Ratchet's back. The Lombax first decided to explore the nearest building, which appeared to be some kind of sewer plant. The Lombax looked inside the large structure, frowning. Apparently the grey water came out here, as it was seen spilling down a stone ramp onto the ground outside. Ratchet ran up a large set of rock stairs to a small bridge leading into another room.

There a group of bird-like robots stared at the Lombax, startled by his sudden appearance no doubt. Then they charged at him, ready to attack. Ratchet them with his blaster, somewhat annoyed.

"Stupid robots," Ratchet muttered. He then jumped back and forth between a set of Gravi-Walls. Then he landed on the platform above. "Well, that was easy."

"Indeed," was all XJ-0461 replied.

"What's your problem?" Ratchet asked, sounding irritated.

"Nothing," XJ-0461 told him. "I am just… thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing of importance."

Ratchet let out an annoyed sigh and headed down the corridor into the next room. A pair of Blarg were there, sleeping on the job. One of them held a remote in his hand. Ratchet spied a door ahead. There was a bomb strapped to it.

Ratchet bashed the nearest Blarg in the head. The sound woke up his companion (the one with the remote). "A Lombax!"

The Blarg, after a brief scuffle, was quickly knocked out too. Ratchet swiped the remote and looked at it, then the door. "If the Blarg are trying to get to whatever is behind this door, then it must be important."

"Then let us get to it before they do," XJ-0461 said.

Ratchet backed away from the door and pressed the button on the remote. The door blew open. After the dust cleared, Ratchet walked through the door, blaster and wrench at the ready. A Plumber stood in the corner, holding a Negotiator, coughing and wheezing.

"Ah-ah-ah-choo! Woooowheee! I need to get somethin' done about my sinuses," the Plumber muttered. Then he spotted Ratchet and walked up to him, unequipping his Negotiator. "Hey… have we met before? 'Cause I'm gettin' the ol' touch of déjà vu."

"I don't think so," Ratchet replied.

"Huh." The Plumber frowned, seemingly disappointed. "Guess the ol' think tank can use a good plumbin'. Anyhoo, I've been tryin' to get a distress call to the Galactic Rangers ever since Drek's forces showed up!"

"Is there anything we can do to help you?" XJ-0461 asked.

"Well, you can help by gettin' this infobot in the hands of Captain Qwark. I can't go myself, I'm not that great of a fighter…" the Plumber spoke, sticking his hand in one of his enormous pockets, and pulling out an infobot. "Here, have a looksee."

A screen popped out of the infobot and displayed the image of a very smug looking Chairman Drek. _"Oh, hello there. I'm Alonzo Drek, Chairman of Drek Industries. Many of you may be wondering, 'Why are 300 heavily-armed robots marching ominously towards a class-G dreadship?' The answer is simple, friends. Progress!_

 _"Years ago, we were driven underground by pollution that may or may not, but most definitely was, caused by my father's company. Since then, we've shifted focus from robotics… to planet building! Now that our project is nearing completion, we must do everything possible to stay on schedule._

 _"In this case, it means our friendly army of warbots must vanquish those who would seek to stop us. The good news? They don't even know we're coming! So! Sit back, relax, and take comfort in the knowledge that Drek Industries is working for you!"_

Then another voice said, _"Drek Industries is not working for you."_

The transmission ended there. Ratchet frowned in thought. "Drek must be sending those troops to attack the Rangers! We have to get to Kerwan."

"I'd better get goin' now," the Plumber said. "See you in the next reboot of the reboot!"

Ratchet stared in confusion as the Plumber then charged to an opening in the floor, where a partially open sewer pipe was, and jumped. "Geronimo!" The Plumber slid down the pipe out of sight.

"Did he just slide down a sewer pipe?" Ratchet asked.

"Since I am facing the opposite direction you are," XJ-0461 spoke, "I am afraid I cannot confirm that."


	3. II: Novalis, Part Two

**Third chapter! :) And I got a review!**

 **Max Chronicle: Things seem... rocky... for lack of a better term in the story so far. Ratchet seems to have run from home and is living alone in the garage. (Also, there seems to be no Grimroth.) And XJ-0461 (Friendly reminder: do remember to put the dash in between the letters and the numbers.), has been exiled for some grievous crime against time or the Clock. Exactly what's going on remains a mystery but I'm most keen on seeing where this leads.**

 **I'll follow this for now as I don't want to miss an update. I'm looking forward to see what these changes to the reboot will be and how drastic things become because things don't seem as friendly as normal. Keep it up!**  
 **Max out.**

 ** _Reply: Thanks. :) I'm glad you find this story interesting so far. All will be revealed in time, but for now, prepare for more mystery! Looking forward to hearing more from you._**

 **As a little warning, I'd like to note that I don't write jet/ship fighting scenes very well (minor spoiler alert.) So please bear with me. I'm also trying to lengthen the fighting scenes on the ground, too. Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter.**

 **. . .**

"Well, it looks like the fastest way down," Ratchet said, holding the infobot in his hand. "Here we go…"

The Lombax took a step back, and then raced forward. He jumped into the sewer pipe and started sliding down at ludicrous speed. "Wooooooaaah! Waaaaah-hah-hah! Woo-hooo! This is awesome!"

"I am very much inclined to disagree," XJ-0461 replied shakily when they reached the bottom.

Ratchet chuckled as he stood up. Their decimated ship was sitting a few yards away. The Lombax spotted a Gadgetron Vendor ahead. "Huh. Didn't notice that vendor earlier. I don't have any bolts with me, but they do give away neural interfaces for free." The Lombax went up to the vendor and got himself a neural interface.

"What does this 'neural interface' do?" XJ-0461 asked, curious. He had never heard of such a thing before.

"It holds a large but limited amount of items," Ratchet told him. "You can teleport anything you want into it." For reference, the Lombax teleported his blaster, Swingshot, and the infobot into the neural interface. So now he had just his Omniwrench in his hands. "I had a neural interface myself a few years ago, but it got busted. Never bothered to get a new one until now."

"I see," XJ-0461 replied. "Technology has certainly advanced in the past few centuries…"

"Say what now?" Ratchet asked, his interest piqued. What was the little robot talking about?

"Um, never mind my ramblings," XJ-0461 told him. "Just… ignore it. Please."

XJ-0461 sounded afraid, almost. Ratchet frowned. "Are you alright there, XJ?"

"Yes!" XJ-0461 snapped, becoming irritated. Why couldn't this Lombax mind his own business? "Let us just focus on finding a ship. And I would find it more preferable if you called me by my actual name!"

"Fine!" Ratchet snarled. "Have it your way, Grumpy-Bolts!" He then stepped onto a nearby elevator, which took him down the clifftop to the city itself. Ratchet was immediately attacked by a trio of flying robots resembling fat birds with guns.

The Lombax, dodging weapons fire, gripped his wrench tightly as he leapt onto a rock. Then he sprung high into the air towards the nearest flying robot and slammed his wrench in its face. Sparks flew from the machine's optics upon impact and the robot crashed into the earth, bursting into flames upon impact.

Ratchet landed a few feet away, switching to his blaster. The remaining two robots stared at their fallen companion for a few seconds, trying to comprehend what just happened. That hesitation resulted in their downfall, as a few shots from Ratchet's blaster took them out quickly.

Only, there was a slight problem afterwards. He was out of ammo.

Ratchet switched back to his wrench, noting to buy some ammo and possibly new weapons when he had the bolts. The Lombax, as he walked by several burning buildings, spotted a statue of a young female Markazian. She was wearing some kind of armour and holding a Combuster.

At that moment, the sound of static came over several speakers placed throughout the city. Then came a voice, trying to sound calm, but failing to do so _. "Attention, citizens. You may have noticed we are in the midst of a small, insignificant invasion."_

"Like no one would have seen all this chaos," Ratchet muttered sarcastically.

 _"We are working hard to contact the Blarg so we can find a peaceful resolution."_

Ratchet rolled his eyes and continued down the path into a small building that led to a bridge.

 _"But until they return our calls, it's probably best to remain in your homes."_

Probably?

Ratchet shook his head, zigzagging as a pair of those bird-like robots tried to shoot him. Needless to say, they were promptly dismantled. And by dismantled, I mean the robots getting their faces bashed in and then their inert bodies being kicked into the river below the bridge.

Ratchet ran down the bridge to another path, where there was a somewhat damaged ship being bombarded by weapons fire from a group of Blarg soldiers. The Lombax threw his wrench at the nearest soldier, hitting him in the back.

"OW!" the Blarg yelped, dancing about in pain. "Who did that?!"

Ratchet quickly ran over and grabbed his wrench before dodging blaster fire. The Lombax then jumped and swung his wrench in a downward strike towards the Blarg soldier that got hit in the back. The wrench struck his face, knocking him out upon impact.

Ratchet then flipped backwards to avoid more enemy fire. Then one of two remaining the Blarg soldiers ran out of ammo.

"Uh…" the Blarg threw down his gun and, dodging a swipe of Ratchet's wrench, grabbed a rock and threw it at the Lombax. "Take that, you filthy animal!"

Ratchet swung his wrench and deflected the rock. It bounced to the Blarg's feet. The red reptile looked down at it with surprise, started to shout something in anger, and then got bashed in the face by Ratchet's wrench. The Blarg slumped onto the earth, out of commission and out of mind.

There was one soldier left. Aiming his gun, which was shaking because of his trembling hands, the Blarg declared fearfully, "You're… uh, one dead Lombax! Yeah, you're so… so very, uh, dead!"

Ratchet leaped forward and smashed his wrench in the Blarg's head. The Blarg fell over, unconscious.

After a moment, a voice called through the damaged ship's door, "Hello? Is it safe to come out?"

"Yeah," Ratchet told him. This guy sounded like the one warning the citizens to remain in their homes…

Within a few moments, an elderly looking Rilgarian opened the ship's door and stepped out, trembling. "You stopped them from killing me. I'm grateful. But the sector is still under attack. Do you have a ship?"

"We did," XJ-0461 told him, "but it was destroyed when we crashed."

"Hm… alright, you two seem to be pretty resourceful," the Rilgarian spoke. "You did just save my life after all. C'mon, follow me. I'll take you to our fighter jet hangar."

"Are you the mayor or something?" Ratchet asked. "We heard your voice over the speakers earlier."

"Yes, I'm Mayor Buckwash. Now let's hurry before the city is completely destroyed! If I survive this and the city is wiped off the map, it's definitely not going to improve my approval rating."

Ratchet resisted the urge to roll his eyes and make a snippy comment.

"My ship is too damaged to fly, unfortunately, so we have to go on foot," Mayor Buckwash told them. "Follow me!"

. . .

 _Soon… at the fighter jet hangar…_

Jets and computers crowded the hangar. The dials and screens glowed, adding to the light produced by the ceiling lights. Mayor Buckwash stood to the side at a computer console, getting ready to open the hangar doors.

Ratchet sat down in the pilot's seat of his jet fighter, XJ-0461 at his side. "Off we go!"

The jet's visor closed and Ratchet started up the engines. "Alright… seat belts. Check?"

"Check," XJ-0461 replied, attempting to put on the seat belt. "Although this seatbelt is rather large…"

Ratchet chuckled at that. He flipped a few switches. "Altimeter… check. Thrusters… check. Okay, I think we're all set." The hangar doors slid open and the jet blasted out of the hangar.

"We have approximately five Blarg fighters moving in on our position," XJ-0461 told Ratchet, looking at the scanner readings. As XJ-0461 spoke, fighters moved in and started shooting at the jet. Ratchet jerked the steering handle and swerved to the left to avoid enemy fire.

"Thanks. Can you get a lock on the transport ships' positions?"

"Hold on…" XJ-0461 tapped at the keyboard a bit. "There is one transport approximately fifty kilocubits north from our current position."

"Hang on!" Ratchet pressed the thruster pedal to the floor, putting on a burst of speed.

"Wooooaaaaah!" XJ-0461 clutched his seat tightly, eyes shut. "I do not think that this is safe!"

"Woooohooo!" Ratchet swerved to the right to avoid the side of a mountain. Within a few moments, the transport came into view. The Lombax eased up on the thrusters a bit.

XJ-0461took a look at the scans again. "More fighters in bound."

Ratchet nodded and pressed a button on the steering handle. Fire burst from the gun barrels of the jet. The blasts hit the transport and quickly destroyed it.

"One down," Ratchet declared, grinning, "two to go."

A burst of fire hit the jet from above. Ratchet swiftly jerked the handle. The jet spun in a barrel roll, avoiding the rest of the enemy fire.

"Can you find the last two transports?" Ratchet asked.

"The Blarg are scrambling the sensors," XJ-0461 told him. "I will try to clear the signal, but you will have to rely on visual detection for now."

Ratchet nodded and weaved the jet back and forth between blaster fire. Another blast hit the jet, this time on the wing. Fire and black smoke burst from it. The Lombax then saw the next transport up ahead. Ratchet pressed down harder the thruster pedal, speeding up the jet.

Ratchet then fired at the transport, destroying it. "One more left!"

"I have the sensors working again!" XJ-0461 exclaimed. "The last transport is thirty kilocubits below us."

"Alright, here we go!" Ratchet pulled the handle up and the nose of the jet moved down. In a minute, the transport came into view. "Ready… aim… fire!" The Lombax then blasted the transport, blowing it to pieces quickly. "Yes!"

The fighters immediately began retreating, deciding that they didn't really want to end up like their fallen brethren.

"I suggest that we now return to the hangar," XJ-0461 told Ratchet.

. . .

 _Back at the hangar…_

Ratchet, with XJ-0461 on his back, ran up to a relieved Buckwash. "We destroyed the transports. The Blarg are retreating now."

"You're heroes!" Mayor Buckwash said. "I can't thank you enough for what you've done for us. But there's… a more personal favour I have to ask of you."

"What kind of favour?"

"My nephew, Skid McMarx. He's in a bit of trouble on Aridia," Buckwash replied. He pulled out of his pocket an infobot. "I got a transmission from him through this infobot. Here, take a look."

The infobot displayed a screen, and a crooked image of Skid McMarx appeared _. "Hey, how do ya work this camera whatchamacallit?"_ The young Rilgarian banged his head on the camera by mistake as he tried to adjust it. _"Ouchee!"_ He shook his head in pain and then looked at the camera again. _"Hey, Uncle Buckwash! Skid McMarx here. Ya know. Your nephew."_

Ratchet rolled his eyes, but continued to watch the transmission.

 _"Me and my agent are at the awesome grand opening of the McMarx Sports Shack here on Aridia, and boy has this been a trip! I've gotten to meet all kinds of people! Fans… celebrities… my Gadgetron sponsors… I even got to sign autographs for these_ _odd-looking creatures called 'the Blarg.' I guess they're doin' something here on Aridia."_

Skid then paused. _"Wait. Hold on a minute…"_ He pointed the camera at something he was holding in his hand. _"Hyyyyyydroooo-harrrrvester? Super-Illegal Water Displacement Apparatus? Ummmm… I don't think I'm supposed to have this."_

A voice in the background shouted, _"Stop him! He's got the schematics!"_

 _"HELP! Someone call my agent! Call my publicist!"_ Skid started running away from the Blarg soldiers in fear, their blaster fire barely missing him _. "Actually, don't call either of those people- call someone who cares about me! I don't wanna diiiiie!"_

The recording then ended.

"Sounds like your nephew's in trouble," Ratchet commented. Aridia. He hadn't set foot on that planet in nine years. A shiver passed down his spine.

"I would greatly appreciate it if you would go and help my nephew," Mr. Buckwash told Ratchet. "I'll provide you with a ship to get there. Please. Will you help him, if he hasn't gotten himself killed yet?"

XJ-0461 felt a sharp pain in his mechanical heart. He wanted to help Skid McMarx. But warning the Rangers was more important. Right?

Right?


	4. III: Kerwan, Part One

**Chapter four! And another review from, that's right, Max Chronicle! :)**

 **Max Chronicle: Hey, don't sweat if you can't write combat well. Practice makes perfect! I believe in you.**

 **But now, both 'centuries' and 'Aridia... nine years' mean something more to our heroes. I understand we're only in the third chapter so I can wait for more of the story. Other than that, not much more to say beside the usual keep it up.**  
 **Know I'll be waiting for the next chapter,**  
 **Max out.**

 ** _Reply: Thanks, Max! :) I'll keep practicing, and hopefully I reach perfect (or at least get close to that.) Anyway, prepare for more action and more mystery about the greatest heroes in the universe! Looking forward to hearing more from you._**

 **Quick note, there's a minor reference to a certain Lombax in this chapter, so keep a sharp eye out! And there are other references to other characters and games, too. I'll probably do this a lot throughout the story, so just keep an eye open.**

 **. . .**

 _Aleero City, Kerwan…_

Ratchet stared in horror as a Blarg warship moved in onto Aleero City. Buildings crumbled in the wake of missiles. People ran about on the platforms below, screaming. Warbots marched up to the Hall of Heroes, shooting at the Galactic Rangers. While the Rangers were putting up a valiant fight, it would be futile without assistance.

"We're too late! The invasion's already started! Scan the emergency channels. We need to find out what's happening on the ground." The Lombax then jerked the steering handle, swerving the ship to avoid an enemy missile. "That was close."

XJ-0461 obeyed and scanned the emergency channel. "I have found an emergency transmission."

 _"Attention all units!"_ a voice on the channel said. _"The Hall of Heroes in under attack! Repeat, enemy ships are now in the central district of Aleero—ity— Galactic—angers—fire…"_

All that could be heard now was static.

"They must be jamming the transmission!" XJ-0461 exclaimed, panicking. "We must provide the Rangers assistance!"

Ratchet nodded. He looked towards the Blarg warship, which was releasing another wave of transports at that moment. If they wanted to stop the invasion, then they had to destroy its source. "What would it take to destroy that warship?"

"Something made out of a Raritanium alloy," XJ-0461 replied, studying the scanner. "The warbots down below attacking the Rangers. They are made out of Raritanium, same as I. There is a Mag-Booster attached to the ship. Give me a moment to bring it online."

While XJ-0461 focused on that, Ratchet continued dodging blasts and missiles from enemy ships.

"You are a very good pilot," XJ-0461 commented. "How did you learn to fly so well?"

"Questions, questions…" Ratchet muttered. "You ask all these questions. Ask yourself this: how relevant is the past when we're trying to _not_ get killed?!"

XJ-0461 flinched. "My apologies. Mag-Booster is now online." As if for reference, XJ-0461 suddenly flew up and stuck to the ceiling. "I am not sure that this is good for my circuitry."

Ratchet rolled his eyes and flew down close to the warbots. He could see the Rangers fighting them off valiantly, despite being heavily outnumbered. But the odds were going to even up.

The warbots started floating up off the ground and Ratchet started flying towards the warship. Just a bit closer… just a bit… and the Lombax pulled a lever, jerking the ship up over the warship. The warbots weren't so lucky. They hit the warship, exploded upon impact, and started a chain reaction that turned the warship into a flying ball of flames.

"It hasn't even been a day," Ratchet muttered, "and we're still dodging death and destruction. Hang on!" The Lombax jerked the steering handle to the left, swerving the ship to avoid the balls of flame bursting forth from the warship.

The Lombax watched as the Blarg dropships started pulling out of the city in a retreat. Ratchet then landed in front of the Hall of Heroes, where the Rangers and a group of relieved looking citizens greeted them.

"Great… upping the crazy people ratio," Ratchet muttered. He opened up the ship and said to XJ-0461, "Alright, let's get this over-"

He was interrupted by a large man in a green suit stepping front of their ship, blocking the crowd's view. "Alright, everyone, let's give these heroes some breathing room. I'm happy to field all questions on their behalf."

"Hey, you weren't the one charging straight towards a warship at high speed with a bunch of warbots literally flying behind you," Ratchet told him, annoyed.

"Ratchet, please remain calm," XJ-0461 said to the Lombax. "I am sure that this extremely green man only means well."

"Captain Qwark, Dallas Wanamaker here!" a reporter from the crowd called.

"Yes?" Qwark turned to the reporter, smiling.

Wanamaker asked, "Does this mean you'll be asking these two heroes to join the Rangers?"

"Say what?!" Ratchet exclaimed. "Look, I just came along to deliver this robot to the Rangers." The Lombax gestured to XJ-0461 as he spoke. "I didn't know that package included saving two planets in one day."

"Two planets?!" Wanamaker seemed eager to hear about the other planet. "What other planet did you-"

"Alright!" Qwark shouted, evidently irritated by all the attention being focused on Ratchet and XJ-0461. "They can join the Rangers!"

Ratchet facepalmed. "You have got to be kidding me."

Ratchet and XJ-0461 hopped out of their ship so that the reporters could get their stupid story and go away. But none of them were aware that a lone Blarg soldier who had been left behind by his comrades had been watching the scene. That same soldier decided to take matters into his own hands.

"This is what you get for stranding me in this dump," the Blarg murmured as he planted a bomb on Ratchet and XJ-0461's ship and activated it. The reporters then went away to pester one of the Rangers.

Ratchet turned to the ship, about to get back inside, when he saw the bomb. "XJ, look out!" Ratchet grabbed the little robot and raced off the platform just as the bomb exploded. "Waaaa-woooooooah- ah-aaaaaaaah!"

The Lombax and XJ-0461 landed safely on the platform below. After a moment, Ratchet stood up and helped up XJ-0461.

"C'mon," Ratchet said, "we've got to get back to the Hall of Heroes. Maybe since we saved their scrawny butts, the Rangers might lend us a ship."

XJ-0461 hopped onto Ratchet's back without a word, evidently having given up on trying to correct him about his name. The Lombax then ran down the path ahead, looking around. A trio of robotic dogs ran by, yapping. They then screeched to a halt, and did a double take, looking at Ratchet. One dog snarled and raced forward, its companions following.

Ratchet equipped his wrench and smashed the nearest dogs' face, sending it flying off the platform to its doom. The other two dogs stared at the Lombax, then looked at each other. They then turned tail and ran away, yelping in fear.

Ratchet continued down the path, then spotted an old bolt crate in the bushes nearby. He smashed it, and all the bolts inside teleported into his neural interface. Then he continued down the path, only to be shot at by an incredibly ugly, heavily muscled Blarg soldier.

The Lombax jumped to the side to avoid the blasts, then raced forward to bash the brute in the face. Ratchet leapt and was about to hit the Blarg when said Blarg's fat fist grabbed the Lombax by the neck and threw him on the ground a few feet away.

"OW!" Ratchet stood up, still clutching his wrench. He looked to his right and saw a robotic dog charging at him. Then he glanced back at the Blarg, who was also racing towards him. Three… two… one! Ratchet swung his wrench, metal colliding with metal. The robotic dog flew through the air and hit the Blarg soldier in the face, knocking him out instantly.

The dog, landing on the ground, took one look at Ratchet and ran away yelping just like his predecessors.

"That was easy," Ratchet commented, and crossed the bridge ahead of him. Not far away was a shop resembling a garage. "Huh. I hope whoever is inside that shop is okay."

Ratchet walked up to it. He pressed the doorbell and waited for a response.

"Hello?" a voice asked.

"Uh, hi?" Ratchet replied questioningly. "Are you alright in there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because there are still Blarg in the city," Ratchet said. "Our ship was destroyed and we're trying to get back to the Hall of Heroes. Do you-"

There was some clanging around inside, and then the shop door slid open, interrupting Ratchet's sentence.

"Wha- ack!" Ratchet was pulled inside by a fat furry hand. The door slid shut behind him.

"Welcome to Al's Roboshack!" a voice announced.

Ratchet looked at its owner. It was a fat, orange-furred alien with a lab coat and green goggles. Then the Lombax looked around the shop, seeing all the high-tech gadgets and equipment sitting on the shelves. "Geez, would you look at all this awesome stuff! Check out that Hacker! And a brand new Z-3000 hoverboard!"

Then he spotted a bunch of movie posters on a wall and looked about ready to faint with awe. "Great Zoni… I've died and gone to nerd Heaven!"

How could anyone outside the Clock know about the Zoni? XJ-0461 started feeling a dread inside. He opened his mouth to ask Ratchet about the Zoni when the alien, evidently the shopkeeper, said, "I'm Al Wazowski, Jr. But you can just call me Al. Hang on a second… you're those guys from the news! The ones who saved the city!"

Ratchet immediately became sour. "Here it comes…"

"Hey, don't worry!" Al chuckled, noticing the Lombax's reaction. "I'm grateful and all, but I'm not the 'swarm around every great person I meet' kind of guy. I've got other ways of saying thank you. Say…" Al was focusing on XJ-0461. "What's your name, little guy?"

"My designation is XJ-0461," XJ-0461 replied, hopping off Ratchet's back so he could take a better look around.

"Wow, that's a mouthful," Al commented, chuckling in amusement. "How about I call you… 'Clank?'"

"'Clank?'" Ratchet repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Y'know, because his little feet were clanking when he jumped off your back just now," Al said.

"Hm." XJ-0461 thought this over a moment. "It does sound a lot better than 'XJ.'"

"Hey!" Ratchet was a bit insulted.

"Alright, Clank it is!" Al exclaimed, pleased with himself. "Since you guys saved the city, and are trying to get back to the Hall of Heroes, how about I help you out a bit? I've been working on a robotic upgrade. But it can only be used by a robot with P-63 sisterboard. I'm assuming you run on that system, Clank?"

XJ-0461, now Clank, nodded.

"Alright, this'll just take a second!" Al quickly grabbed Clank, startling the robot and started working. Within moments, he was finished. "There! Try it out!"

Clank equipped his new upgrade, the Heli-Pack. He attempted to fly up off the worktable, but ended up shooting across the room and hitting a stack of crates. "Oof! I am okay!" A crate fell on top of him. "Less okay!"

Ratchet chuckled in amusement. Al looked somewhat distraught by the scene. "Um, there might be a few kinks to work out..."


	5. IV: Kerwan, Part Two

**Chapter five! :) Two chapters in one day! Yep, I'm writing up a storm today. TheLilyoftheValley also let me use her Senior Ranger Trainer idea too.**

. . .

"Getting back to the Hall of Heroes is easy," Al told Ratchet and the newly upgraded Clank. The fat alien walked over to another door and opened it. "Just head this way until you find the Grav-Train station. The train leaves in ten minutes, so you have to hurry. By the way, here's a Spiral of Death I won at a Galactic Weapons auction. It's not a Gadgetron weapon, so you'll have to pay extra for ammo, unfortunately. Great heroes need great weapons!"

"Thanks," Ratchet told him, taking the weapon and teleporting it into his neural interface. Clank then hopped on his back. "Are you sure we don't owe you anything?"

"Don't worry about it," Al told him. "You guys saved the city, which means you saved my life. You don't owe me anything. And when you get to the Hall of Heroes, tell Cora I'm still waiting on the date for our date. Heh, heh, heh…"

"Uh… right," Ratchet replied, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "See ya later, Al."

"Bye!" Al said, going back to work. Then he called, "Oh, wait! One more thing!"

Ratchet ran out the door. There was a metal staircase to the left, but it was rusted to the point where it would break if any weight pressed on it. As if to emphasize, a bird feather floated slowly down onto a step, and the stairs immediately collapsed under its weight.

As if that wasn't a potential safety hazard.

"Don't take the stairs!" Al told him. "You'll have to use your Heli-Pack to get up to the next level. Sorry about that…"

Ratchet looked back at him. "Er, thanks?" Then he said to Clank, "Alright, on three. One… two… three!"

Clank activated his Heli-Pack, propelling Ratchet upwards onto a large wooden crate. Then they did that again and again until they reached the upper platform.

"Whew!" Ratchet wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I think my ears popped."

"I believe that would be because of our change in elevation," Clank told him.

Ratchet only nodded. "Okay, looks like we'll have to do some gliding. The bridge here looks too unstable. On three. One-"

"Ratchet, I must ask, how do you know about the Zoni and Orvus?" Clank asked, interrupting the Lombax. "And did we do the right thing? Coming to Kerwan first, and then planning on going to Aridia later?"

"Clank, I'm sure McMarx can take care of himself for a few hours," Ratchet told him. "And this isn't the time to talk about fairy tales either."

"They are not-!" Clank cut himself off before he said anything more.

"Not what?"

"Nothing. Nothing. You said we had to glide?"

"Yeah," Ratchet replied, growing puzzled by Clank's behaviour.

The duo glided down to the platform below. Ratchet ran down the path ahead, while Clank mentally kicked himself for being so stupid.

 _You almost gave yourself away! If he knew what you were, he'd probably become curious about the Clock. And those who become curious will turn to lust. Those who are lustful are dangerous._

 _I know that, thank you._

 _Do you? Do you remember what your father warned you about? The Clock is not a time machine. You disregarded that warning the second you-_

"Enough!" Clank exclaimed.

Ratchet halted a moment in confusion. "Enough of what?"

Clank stayed silent.

"Are you alright?" Ratchet asked.

"Yes," Clank lied. "I was thinking aloud. Do not mind me."

Ratchet nodded and stepped onto the elevator in front of him. Within moments, they were on the upper level. A group of Blarg troops awaited them.

Ratchet equipped his Spiral of Death. "Who wants to get sliced first?"

The Blarg soldiers stared at him, then the weapon in his hands. "Spiral of Death! Run!" The soldiers scrambled away, afraid of getting beheaded. Only one troop stayed behind.

"Hey! Get back here, you babies! We have a mission to finish you- oh for Zoni's sake, forget it!" the lone Blarg called to his fleeing comrades. They ignored him. The soldier turned to face Ratchet. "You're going down, Lombax!"

Let's just say it wasn't a pretty end for that Blarg soldier. Ratchet frowned at the body, then looked at his Spiral of Death. "Maybe I should have just used my wrench…"

"You think?" Clank asked. The robot was glad he was not organic, as the ground would be coated in vomit by now if he was.

Ratchet, equipping his wrench, finally tore himself away from the body and headed up a staircase to the Grav-Train station. The area seemed desterted. The Lombax stepped further into the station. Suddenly a Blarg soldier rounded the corner, whistling a tune. He halted when he saw Ratchet. "Hey, you can't be in here-!"

The Blarg was knocked out by one bash of the wrench.

Suddenly the train started moving, gaining speed with every second. Ratchet chased after it, as it was moving alongside the platform.

"Clank, we're gonna have to jump!" Ratchet told him. "Is your Heli-Pack ready?"

"I am ready," Clank told him.

"Three… two… one! Now!" Ratchet leaped off the platform towards the edge of the nearest train platform. Clank activated his Heli-Pack, propelling Ratchet close enough to the platform for him to land.

"Yeah!" Ratchet fist pumped triumphantly. "Nice work there, Clank."

"Why thank you," Clank replied, feeling a bit pleased with himself.

Within moments, the train arrived at the Hall of Heroes. At the front of the building the Rangers awaited Ratchet and Clank.

One of them, a female Markazian, said, "There you are! We just got finished with those stupid reporters. C'mon, it's time for your training, rookie. Unless you've got cold feet."

"Hey!" Ratchet recognised her. "You're the lady who has that statue on Novalis!"

The Markazian rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm Cora." Then she pointed to each of her teammates. "That's our team captain, Qwark. That guy there is Brax. That's Elaris. And over there is our Senior Ranger Trainer, Grim."

Ratchet looked at each one as Cora spoke. When his eyes landed on Grim, the large purple alien said, "Kid, you have no idea what you've gotten yourself into, do you?"

"Look, I really appreciate the offer, guys," Ratchet told them sheepishly. "Really. But I just came here to deliver Clank-"

"Who's Clank?" Qwark asked.

"This little guy here," Ratchet told him, gesturing to the robot, who had jumped off his back for the moment. "I just want to get out of Solana as soon as possible, okay? Please, just-"

"We need more people on the team," Elaris told him sharply. "It's obvious we need help. We can't win this battle alone. You two pretty much saved Aleero City. We could use the assistance."

Ratchet looked down at his feet, feeling slightly ashamed.

"Bah, we don't need him!" Qwark declared. "Cuz you've got me- Captain Copernicus Leslie Qwark!"

"Fine, train me," Ratchet growled. "But when this is over, I'm getting out of this galaxy for good."

. . .

 _Soon… while Clank was working with Elaris…_

Grim's voice rang through the speakers in the VR training room as Ratchet equipped his Protosuit. It was a bright crimson colour, clearly standing out from the rest of the Rangers. _"Your Protosuit is the most advanced combat armour on the market."_

 _"And it comes in the latest fall colours!"_ Qwark added enthusiastically.

 _"Hey! Get out of here, Qwark! Who's the one training the Lombax, you or me?!"_

Ratchet tried very hard not to laugh at them.

 _"Fine! Says the guy who thought putting fire ants in my bed was a good punishment for accidentally blowing up the cafeteria last week…"_

 _"I heard that!... ahem. Alright, here we go. Phase one. Activating holographic simulation."_

The room suddenly transformed, shapes swirling into place, colours of all kinds appearing. Soon the room resembled one of the buildings on Kerwan. Up ahead Ratchet saw an obstacle course. "Woah… this is amazing…"

 _"Yeah, yeah, whatever,"_ Grim replied. _"Captain Qwark designed this fitness course so that the Rangers could reach their top physical condition. It's one of the few things that he actually did a decent job on."_

 _"Hey, I heard that!"_ Qwark objected. _"I'll have you know, I won the competition for Galactic Idol last year!"_

"Why am I getting déjà vu all of a sudden?" Ratchet asked. _Now I know how that Plumber felt…_

 _"Just get going, rookie!"_ Grim shouted.

Ratchet nodded and ran towards the obstacle course. He leapt up to one platform, then to another. Then he bounced back and forth between a set of Gravi-Walls. When he reached the top, Grim commented, _"Hm. Not bad. Let's see if you can handle the next set."_

Ratchet looked and saw another set of Gravi-Walls, which were even taller than the previous. "How do I get myself into these situations?"

 _"How, indeed. Get_ moving _, cadet!"_

Ratchet made his way to the top of the set, and stood there a minute, panting. Apparently he was at the top of the tower now.

 _"What do you know? The rookie got to the top of the… ugh… 'Summit of Justice.' But I'd rather not get hopeful to quickly…"_

Ratchet ignored Grim and equipped his Swingshot. He leapt forward off the platform towards the nearest target and grappled on. He swung to the next one and did the same thing. Soon he was safely on the ground.

 _"Now it's time for you to get to the top of the 'Tower of Power.' Seriously, what is it with these names?"_

Ratchet jumped from platform to platform, some of which moved. Then he had to jump between another set of Gravi-Walls (and Ratchet couldn't help but wonder how many times a day the Rangers did this.) The Lombax stood at the top, panting heavily.

 _"Hah! When I was your age, I could have done that in half the time!"_

Ratchet rolled his eyes and then used his Swingshot to grapple to the end of the course. "How'd I do?"

 _"Eh… adequate. Adequate."_

The holographic environment disappeared, leaving Ratchet standing on a platform floating far above the floor. The platform floated down to the floor and the Lombax hopped off.

The door leading into the VR room opened, revealing Grim holding a data pad. "I have an assignment for you."

Ratchet walked up to him. "What kind of assignment?"

"Ranger intel tells us that Drek has a state of the art weapons lab in Nebula G34," Grim told him. "Your mission is to destroy his top secret project. I'll be sending Cora to assist you."

"I thought Qwark was the team captain," Ratchet pointed out.

"He is," Grim replied. "But he's also a moron and I don't trust him to get the job right, with that fat ego of his and all. Anyway, you'll probably need a Trespasser to access Drek's laboratory. According to his mother, he was quite fond of them in his youth. They're old and rare, but Elaris has told me that she's scanned this system and isolated the signature of a Trespasser on Aridia. Unfortunately, there's a Blarg presence on that planet as well, so you'll have to be careful."

"I'm sure I can get the Trespasser. And I was planning on making a quick stop at Aridia anyway, as a favour to Buckwash."

"Who?"

"The mayor of one of the cities on Novalis."

"Oh. Anyway, your new ship is in the hangar," Grim told him.

The large alien was about to walk away when Ratchet asked, "Can Clank come with me?"

Grim thought a moment. "Yeah, sure, why not? Be careful over there Ratchet. And listen to what Cora tells you to do, okay? She may be a total jerk at times, but she's the smartest Ranger here next to Elaris. No offense to you, Lombax."

"None taken," Ratchet told him. "Just direct me to the hangar and I'll be on my way."


	6. V: Aridia, Part One

**Aaaaand we're back! With another review from Max!**

 **Max Chronicle: Okie dokie, caught on both chapter and I'm seeing bits and pieces of the ol' 2002 Ratchet... something that intrigues me the more I read this. (And I appreciate the reference to one of Azimuth's quotes in the last chapter.)**

 **It's a surprise to see Al naming Clank and Grim be the senior Ranger trainer. Although these twists are small, I feel it helps to keep the reader on their toes - no one knows where or what will take the cake and prod things in new directions. But it makes for some good changes that I would like to see explored and developed further. Remember: practice makes perfect. You've come a long way from Dimensions; something you should be proud of.**

 **Again. I await new chapter with quiet expectation.**

 **Max out.**

 ** _Reply: I'm glad you find that interesting. :) I thought it might make things a little more unusual if Ratchet had some of his personality from the original Ratchet and Clank game. And I'm glad you liked that I made a reference to Alister._**

 ** _I'm glad you're also enjoying the twists I throw in now and then. I like the idea of keeping readers on their toes (hopefully without making them lose balance, lol. Okay yeah, bad joke...) Again, I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far._**

 ** _Speaking of Dimensions_ _, that story needs a complete overhaul from the ground up. I've been playing with a new concept in my mind for a while now, and I figured once I'm done with this and my other Ratchet and Clank stories, then I can start working on the reboot of Dimensions._**

 ** _Anyway, looking forward to hearing more from you soon! :)_**

 **Also, this chapter is a bit short, so I apologise for that.**

. . .

 _On the way to Aridia…_

Clank looked at Ratchet as the Lombax piloted them towards Aridia. "Ratchet, I would like to know more about this… legend about Orvus and the Zoni."

"Why are you so fixated on that?" Ratchet asked, looking at Clank with a raised eyebrow. "It's just a little kid's story that they used to tell at the orphanage on… Aridia."

"You were an orphan?" Clank asked.

"For a while, yeah," Ratchet replied, his expression growing depressed. "But then I was adopted. My father was a good man. Or… so I thought he was anyway..."

"What happened?" Clank asked.

"I found something that I shouldn't have found," Ratchet told him. "My father… he was involved in something dangerous… I was up one night, headed for the kitchen for a midnight snack, when I passed by my dad's office. I heard some kind of argument. It was about me."

 _Seven years ago…_

Ten year-old Ratchet yawned as he walked down the empty hall, bright green eyes somewhat hidden by heavy lids. His ear twitched as his father's voice rang through the hall from his office.

"I know my last payment was late and _yes,_ I made sure the Chairman was informed."

Ratchet's sleepiness turned to curiosity and he walked over to his father's office door. He pressed his ear against it and listened to the conversation.

 _"Time is of the essence, Doctor. You know that. If the war is allowed to continue, there will be nothing left. My armies are becoming weaker with each passing month. We cannot allow-!"_

"I'm doing the best I can!" his father snarled at the mysterious speaker. It sounded like they were communicating via comlink. "You know how it is when you've got a nosy child in your home. It's hard to keep secrets from the only person in the universe who gives even two bolts about me."

 _"Then get rid of him. You must focus on completing your work, not protecting a child of my enemy."_

"He's my son! I can't do that to him!"

 _"If you don't pull through for me, you'll have a lot more to worry about than losing your so-called child. Get rid of him. Or you're dead."_

Ratchet's heart raced with fear. He knew that if he stayed, he would be dead. He had to run. The Lombax heard footsteps coming towards the office door.

It was now or never.

 _Present day…_

"Since then, I've been on the run," Ratchet told Clank. "Apparently my father's involved with the Blarg. He's had them try to track me down for years. You wanted to know why I'm so good at fighting. It's because I'm doing it to survive."

"Is this why you wish to leave the Solana Galaxy once Chairman Drek's plans have been defeated?" Clank asked. "Because you are afraid your father will kill you?"

Ratchet looked at Clank a moment. "Yeah. But please don't tell anyone about this, okay? I've got enough on my plate already."

"Do not worry, Ratchet," Clank assured him. "Your secret is safe with me."

 _Aridia…_

Planet Aridia. Mind-numbingly hot during the day. Somewhat chilly at night. A place where Sandsharks flocked, especially during hibernation season. During that time, a whole _valley_ could be found crowded with sleeping Sandsharks. These creatures were especially aggressive then, and would pretty much maul anyone who dared disturbed their season-long nap. They were pretty walking piranhas.

Wait, bad comparison. Piranhas only maul critters when they're starving to death. The Sandsharks were like scaly grizzly bears. But enough about Sandsharks. Nobody cares about Sandsharks. That I know of…

Ratchet, with Clank on his back, walked up to Cora, who was struggling to get out of her ship. "Need some help, milady?"

"Call me that again and I'll shoot you, Lombax" Cora snapped.

Ratchet immediately frowned. Not exactly a great first impression. "Um… okay." He watched as the female Markazian finally managed to pull herself from the snug ship.

"Well?" Cora asked, crossing her arms irritably. "Let's go!"

Ratchet nodded and walked across the sand, looking around. His ear twitched, and he listened carefully. "You hear that?"

"Hear what?" Clank asked.

Ratchet turned his head to the left, where he saw a familiar looking Rilgarian running towards them, screaming. "Heeeeeeeeelp meeeeeeee!"

"That's Skid McMarx!" Ratchet exclaimed. As he spoke, the alien lizard tripped on a rock. Skid stood up shakily, and then ran up to the trio.

He stood there, panting and wheezing. "You would not believe how long I've been running. Seriously. First crazy Blarg dudes, then Sandsharks! What's next?! An invasion of _Loki?!"_

Ratchet raised an eyebrow skeptically at that last part. "Clank and I met your uncle on Novalis. He showed us the transmission you sent him. You've got schematics that the Blarg are after, right?"

"Yeah!" Skid reached into his pocket and pulled out a data pad. "Something called a Super-Illegal Water something-something…"

"Well, we're here to help," Ratchet told him before Cora could say anything. "Where's your ship?"

"Over there," Skid said, pointing to a ship on a clifftop a few yards off. "I haven't been able to get to it though because of the Sandsharks. I read somewhere that it's… uh, hiber-something season for them or whatever. They just came right into this valley and fell asleep!"

"Hibernation, huh?" Ratchet asked. "We can probably clear 'em out easily. But we're on a mission at the moment."

"Really?" Skid asked, excited. "What kind of mission? Is it a top secret conspiracy?"

Cora let out an annoyed growl. "This is getting ridiculous! We came here to pick up the Trespasser! Not to play dilly dally with some green lizard with fancy goggles!"

"Hey!" Skid looked insulted. Then he said, "I actually happen to have a Trespasser. My dad gave it to me when I was a kid, a couple months before he died. If you can clear out those Sandsharks, I'll give you my Trespasser and the schematics!"

Cora thought this over a moment. "Alright." She turned to Ratchet. "We're going to split up. I'll clear out the Sandsharks for Skid. You go investigate that building there." She pointed to the McMarx Sports Shack. "See what else the Blarg are up to. Got that, rookie?"

Ratchet nodded. "You can count on us!"


	7. VI: Aridia, Part Two & G34, Part One

**Aaaaaand we're back! :) Here we go.**

. . .

Ratchet dodge-rolled again as the surviving robot guard shot yet another burst of fire at him. The Lombax turned and shot another spiral from his Spiral of Death. This time he managed to land a hit, chopping off the robot's arm. The robot fell backwards, seemingly defeated. Ratchet unequipped his Spiral of Death and struck a victory pose. "Ha hah! In your face- eh… uh oh!"

The robot stood up and chose this moment to launch a bomb at Ratchet. The Lombax jumped out of the way just in time, barely avoiding the blast. He scrambled to his feet, reequipping his Spiral of Death. Ratchet aimed it at the robot and fired.

The spiral hit the robot in the middle, slicing it neatly in half, and said robot fell backwards into the sand, this time defeated for sure.

"Might I suggest next time," Clank spoke, "using the element of surprise and destroying the robots before they see us?"

"Alright, alright. Keep your pants on, okay?"

Clank was utterly confused by this statement. "But I am not wearing pants. How can I keep my pants on when I am not wearing them?"

"It's just a… you know what, never mind," Ratchet replied. The Lombax headed down the platform to the Swingshot target that was up ahead and grappled onto it. He swung to the other side and landed on the platform.

Perhaps I should explain what happened before delving further. While searching the Sports Shack, Ratchet and Clank had found a secret entrance leading into some kind of Blarg hideout. Clank theorised that the Blarg may have bribed the construction workers into building said hideout. Anyway, right when Ratchet entered he was assaulted by a duo of robots who must've been on patrol. It was the same pair of robots Ratchet took down just a few moments ago.

Now we may continue with the story.

"Odd…" Clank spoke. "My sensors are picking up a strange energy signature near the Swingshot targets… I believe it may be a gadget from Drek Industries."

"Huh," Ratchet said. "Alright. Let's take a look around. Maybe we'll find something that'll help us figure out what exactly Drek is up to."

After much more grappling and swinging with the Swingshot, Ratchet entered a small room where he found a Blarg sitting alone in his chair, sleeping and snoring awfully loud. A few feet away was a small, strange looking gadget lying on the floor. Next to it was a computer console.

"Hm…" Ratchet tiptoed over and picked up the gadget. He teleported it into his neural interface for the time being, and then took a look at the computer screen. "Clank, take a look at this."

Clank hopped off his back and, after getting a boost onto the console from Ratchet, viewed the screen. "It appears to be something called the Deplanetiser."

"Let's see if we can find the schematics," Ratchet whispered. He tapped away at the keys, searching for data. After a moment, he said, "It looks like the schematics were deleted. Some of the code looks corrupted. Maybe it was some kind of cyber-attack."

"But who would want to delete the files?" Clank asked.

"Who indeed," a voice behind them said.

Ratchet and Clank whirled around to see the now-awake Blarg, who was aiming a Combuster at them. "Hello, Lombax. Your father's going to be so pleased that I found you and saved him the trouble of killing you."

"Crap…" Ratchet thought quickly, and pretended to look over the Blarg's soldier. "Huh… that's a weird place to put a piano."

The Blarg frowned. "What piano?"

"The one behind you," Ratchet told him.

The Blarg thought this over a moment. "You're… uh, lying. There's no piano."

Clank quickly caught onto what Ratchet was doing. "No, he is not. There is indeed a piano behind you."

The Blarg's frown deepened. He looked behind him, and Ratchet chose this moment to strike. Equipping his wrench, Ratchet raised his arm, leapt forward, and smashed the weapon in the Blarg's face.

The Blarg slumped to the floor in a daze. "Ugh… mummy? Da-da? Did I fall out of bed again? Can I have a cookie…?"

Ratchet hit the Blarg in the head again, knocking him unconscious. "Nope, no cookies for you. Just an Omniwrench sandwich," he told the knocked-out Blarg gleefully.

"That was impressive," Clank told him, hopping off the console and jumping back onto the Lombax's back. "I was not sure he would fall for that."

"One thing I've learned during my years on the run," Ratchet replied, "is that the Blarg are complete morons. I wonder how Cora's doing..."

"I am sure she is handling her task well," Clank replied.

 _Meanwhile…_

Cora dodge-rolled a snap of the jaws from a Sandshark before grabbing it by the neck and shooting it in the chest with her Combuster. Then she threw the body aside and started shooting more Sandsharks that attempted to attack. "This is not going well!"

"You look great out there!" Skid called from his hiding spot, which was behind a rock quite a ways away. "No, you're hot. Like smoking hot!"

Cora rolled her eyes and blasted another Sandshark in the face. His companion leapt at Cora and sunk his teeth into her arm. "OW!"

"Uh, you okay?" Skid asked, alarmed by this turn of events.

"Do I _look_ like I'm okay?!" Cora shouted in irritation, slamming her arm and the Sandshark into a rock, trying to get said Sandshark to let go. It just wouldn't budge. "Get… OFF!"

Cora swung her arm around, trying to shake off the Sandshark. But its grip was like a vice. A group of Sandsharks started to surround her, their tiny, drooling maws open. Could this get _any_ worse?

"This is how I'm going to die," Cora muttered. "Taken down by a bunch of sand covered reptiles, trying to help a total mor-"

She was interrupted a voice shouting, "Let go of her!"

Cora looked and saw Skid throwing rocks at the Sandsharks. They ignored him until one hit a Sandshark on the head. The Sandsharks turned to glare at Skid.

Cora switched to her Warmonger, pointed it casually at the Sandsharks as they raced towards Skid, and fired. Those were some pretty fried reptiles. Then she switched to her Combuster, aimed it at the Sandshark on her arm, and shot it point blank in the chest. The now dead Sandshark loosened its grip and fell of her arm. "It's about time." She turned to Skid with a glare. "Alright, now I want that Trespasser and those schematics, now."

"Alright, cranky lady!" Skid raised his hands up defensively. "I'll give you the stuff. But… do ya think you can find my agent for me? Me and him got separated in our escape."

"The deal was that I'd help you out with the Sandsharks and then you'd give me what I want," Cora told him. "I did my part, now it's time you did yours."

"Come on!" Skid pleaded. He got on his knees dramatically and grabbed her ankle. "Please? He's the best agent I got, and he's got a family, and… you know what?" Skid let go of Cora's ankle and stood up. "Tell you what. You find my agent and I'll give you my hoverboard. Not the like the lame ones that you can get at _Galaxy-Mart_ , but my _personal_ hoverboard, the McMarx 4000. We got a deal?"

Cora thought this over a moment. She did always want a hoverboard in her youth… "Alright, fine. But this is the last favour, got that?"

"I got it, lady," Skid replied.

"And stop calling me 'lady!' My name Cora Veralux!"

. . .

 _Later... in Nebula G34, not far from the Blarg station…_

 _"… and you know what Wonderstar said to me after I saved his life?"_ Cora asked over the comm.

"No," Ratchet replied, looking Clank with a "What the heck?" expression.

 _"He asked me out on a date!"_ Cora shouted. _"Now I've got a Sandshark bite on my arm, a hoverboard I could barely fit in the trunk of my ship, and an agent who's got a crush on me! And it's your fault, rookie! When we get back to-"_

Ratchet, tired of hearing Cora whine, pressed the mute button. "Aaaand mute!"

"Are you sure that was wise?" Clank asked.

Ratchet shrugged. "I don't know and I don't care." The Lombax heard his comm start beeping. He answered after a moment of hesitation.

 _"Next time you do that, I'll shoot you. Anyway, we've arrived."_

"Yeah," Ratchet replied. "So… how are we gonna get inside?"

 _"Huh…"_

"What is it?" Clank asked.

 _"Looks like one of the hangar doors was left open… transmitting coordinates now."_

"Copy that," Ratchet replied. "Is that going to be our entry point?"

 _"What do you think, Lombax?"_ Cora asked.

"Alright, we're moving in," Ratchet told her.

Clank felt somewhat… concerned. "Are you not the least bit suspicious as to why they left their hangar wide open for anyone to fly in?"

"I'm a little concerned, yeah," Ratchet replied. "But we've got to find out what Drek is planning, especially if it involves that Deplanetiser… whatever it is."

Soon they were inside the hangar.

 _"I advise you equip your helmet and Magne-boots,"_ Cora told them. _"Doesn't look like there's any oxygen in here. And the artificial gravity on the station appears to be offline. Something's not right here…"_

Ratchet did as Cora told him to and, after attaching Clank to his back, hopped out of his ship. Cora got out of hers more easily this time.

Ratchet looked around the room, eyes searching. It was dark, so he had to turn on the flashlight located on the top of his helmet. Cora did the same thing to hers.

Random objects floated around in the room- coffee mugs, data pads, picture frames, and even a Personal Hygenator.

"Ew… who in their right mind even makes those?" Ratchet muttered. The Lombax walked up to a door ahead of them. It slid open, revealing what looked like the inside of a shuttle pod.

Cora followed, studying one of the consoles. "Looks like the last coordinates that were put in were for that warship outside the station."

"Let's check it out," Ratchet said. "We might be able to find some information there."

"Hey, _I'm_ the one who says where we go, got it?" Cora asked, sounding irritated.

"Alright, yeah, I got it," Ratchet replied.

"I do agree that we should investigate, though," Cora said. She brought the shuttle online and programmed it to head for the warship.

"Oh, yeah," Ratchet spoke as the shuttle headed towards the warship. "I just remembered something. Al Wazowski wanted me to tell you he's still waiting for the date for your date."

Cora glared at Ratchet. "Ugh… of course..."

The shuttle docked with the warship, and the door slid open.

"Oxygen levels are normal here," Cora said, deactivating her helmet. Ratchet did the same. They switched on the flashlights attached to their gloves.

As he walked out of the pod, Ratchet was greeted by a disturbing sight. "Oh no…"

"What?" Cora turned to see what he was looking at. "Uh oh."

"What is wrong?" Clank asked.

A Blarg lay on the floor, bleeding out. Ratchet knelt down to examine the Blarg's body better. A lot of blood poured from his gashes across and stained the jacket on his body. The Blarg was evidently still alive, as he turned his head to look at the Lombax. "Get… out of here… the creatures are loose… there was… a containment failure…"

"Hey, try not to talk, okay?" Ratchet said quietly. "Your wounds look pretty bad."

Cora knelt down beside Ratchet, also looking at the Blarg's wounds. She let out a sigh. "I'm sorry. But your wounds are too severe to treat even with Nanotech. You're not going to make it."

The Blarg nodded, wheezing softly. "You have to go… and destroy the warship. If the creatures manage to escape… they're only prototypes… it'll be devastating… please…" He coughed up some blood and then slumped to the side slightly.

Clank, who had hopped off Ratchet's back to examine the Blarg, turned to his companions. "According to my sensors, he… is dead."

Cora nodded and stood up to walk away. "Let's take a look around. We need to find out what Drek is up to."

"Are we just going to leave him here?" Ratchet asked. "I mean, I hate the Blarg and all, but…"

"Ratchet, now is not the time to pity the enemy," Cora told him sternly. "Now let's go."

Ratchet nodded, standing up. He looked at the body a moment longer, then at Clank. "C'mon. Let's get going." Clank got back on Ratchet's back and the trio recommenced their search for information.


	8. VII: G34, Part Two

**I just read a news article about _Avenger Infinity War..._ and I must say I'm pretty upset about the ending of the movie. They better bring back the heroes they killed off (especially the Guardians of the Galaxy)! Rrrrg... sometimes I hate you, Marvel!**

 **Er... anyway, I got a review.**

 **Max Chronicle: Nice set of chapters you have here. Some good laughs, coupled with a revelation, finally tied together with a bit of action make for a recipe of goodness.**

 **I would suggest, if you want to improve: be descriptive of where the characters are. Even if it is only a generalization of the area, that can go a long way to boosting the quality of your story.**

 **Other than that, I like what I'm seeing so far. So kudos to you and I look forward to the new chapters, Max out**

 ** _Reply: Thanks Max. :) I appreciate it. Can't wait to hear more from you soon!_**

 **And yes, the level has had some alterations. This will happen a lot too.**

. . .

"This place is getting creepier by the minute," Ratchet commented, clutching his new Combuster in his hand. The trio had seen more bloodied bodies of Blarg soldiers as they walked down the corridors, though most of them were dead. The lights flickered, leaving them more often than not in darkness, forcing them to rely on their flashlights. Panels along the walls were ripped off, exposing sparking circuitry. A trail of green slime coated the floor. "The one soldier said that creatures got out of containment. Do you think that's what made that trail?"

"Possibly," Cora replied. "But we're here to get information, not theorise on goo."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Clank murmured. "Just like…"

"Just like what?" Ratchet asked.

"Nothing," Clank replied. "Nothing."

His thoughts went back to his punishment...

 _Many centuries ago… location unknown_

The young Zoni looked on the destruction before him. He strongly resembled his father, aside from his smaller size, large glowing green eyes, and dark grey skin. And right now, his eyes rested on the blazing buildings, the screaming people, all of it. The flames illuminated his body as he stared at the chaos. "What have I done?"

"Son…"

XJ-0461 turned to see his father floating a ways behind him. "Father, please, let me explain-"

"Oh no," Orvus interrupted, trying to withhold the anger in his voice, "that's not necessary. I can see clearly what you've done. How could you, XJ-0461?"

"I just… wanted to do something," XJ-0461 replied. "I could not let them die."

"I am very disappointed in you, XJ0461, "Orvus told him. "You have done the gravest deed that anyone in this universe has ever done. And now… you must be punished, my son. I am sorry I have to do this to you. But it is for the good of the Clock. For the good of the universe. You are hereby banished from this day forth from the Clock until you can redeem yourself. I can only hope that you can…"

XJ-0461 looked down at the ground, too ashamed to look at his father.

"Now I must fix the damage you have caused," Orvus said. "Farewell, my son."

 _The present…_

"You alright, Clank?" Ratchet asked.

Clank snapped out of his thoughts right away. "Er, yes. Why? Is there something wrong?"

"I'm getting an odd sensor reading on my scanner," Cora replied. "Ratchet picked up the same thing."

"Hm…" Clank scanned the area a moment. "There appears to be multiple lifeforms up ahead… however, I do not recognise the species…"

"Same here," Ratchet told him.

Suddenly a loud creaking noise could be heard throughout the ship, startling the Lombax. Clank let out a chuckle. "It is only the bulkheads making that sound, Ratchet."

"Oh, hehe…" Ratchet frowned slightly. "Wait a minute… you hear that?"

"Hear _what?"_ Cora demanded, growing increasingly annoyed.

"I hear it too," Clank said. "Scanning… it appears that the life forms we detected earlier are now moving in on our position."

"There!" Ratchet shot a blast at where he saw movement in the darkness. There was the sound of a light thud. Ratchet and Cora moved close to the object to inspect.

"Now I'm concerned," Cora commented as she looked at the dead creature. It looked very much like a large frog, but it was slimier, like a Rilgarian Amoeboid. Green goo oozed out of the wound it received from Ratchet's Combuster. "Stay sharp, both of you."

Ratchet nodded silently, eyes fliting around quickly, making sure nothing was going to pounce on them or something.

The corridor then led to a room that widened out to a large circular room with a set of stairs that led to another corridor. The trio walked up the staircase, unaware of the threat that awaited them at the top.

Ratchet was ahead of Cora. The Lombax reached the top of the stairs, only to halt at what he saw. There were more of those amphibian creatures, feasting on the flesh of a deceased Blarg troop.

"Ack!" Ratchet shot the creatures, instantly killing them. Cora stood by his side now, looking at the bodies now. Ratchet could only stare at the carcasses, about ready to vomit. He had seen blood before, but this… this was literally something straight out of horror movie.

"Let's keep moving, rookie," Cora told him. "Standing here catching flies in your mouth won't do us any good."

Ratchet raised an eyebrow. "Right… catching flies…"

The two walked down the corridor, and came up on a door with a Trespasser lock. Cora equipped the Trespasser and started hacking. Within a few minutes, the door was unlocked.

They then stepped into the room. It was spacious and circular, with computer consoles along the edges of the room, lighting some of it up in a soft green illumination. Everything else seemed to be shrouded in darkness, aside from what was shined upon by Ratchet and Cora's flashlights. Suddenly out of the darkness burst a creature that had the face of a lizard and the abdomen and legs of a crustacean. It opened its drooling maw and snarled at Ratchet.

The Lombax nonchalantly aimed his Combuster at the creature and shot it in the head. The creature slumped to the floor, dead.

"Not bad," Cora commented. "This looks like the bridge. We're likely to find something here." The female Markazian walked up to a computer console and started tapping away at the keys. "It's encrypted. If Elaris was here, she could crack it easily…"

"Step aside," Ratchet said, popping his knuckles, "and let an expert do the work."

Cora glared at him, slightly insulted. "Alright, fuzzball. Snap to it."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Clank asked aloud.

"You worry too much," Ratchet told him. The Lombax started searching through the files. "Hm… hey, there's something about the Deplanetiser here… let's see… looks like a six-pass alpha key encryption. Amateurs." Within moments, the file was open.

"Alright, Lombax," Cora spoke. "Spill the beans- what is this thing?"

"It's some kind of weapon of mass destruction," Ratchet said. "Look at these schematics. Clank… how much devastation would this thing cause if it was powered by an artificial dwarf star in the middle of a supernova?"

"If my calculations are correct," Clank replied quietly, "it… would have the power to destroy an entire _planet."_

Ratchet and Cora looked at each other.

"Now do see why this situation is so urgent?" Cora said. "This explains why Drek tried to kill us! He doesn't want us getting the way of his plans, which apparently involves destroying planets!" Cora took a deep breath and calmed down. Then she thought for a moment. "You know… this also explains all those disappearing planets."

"Planets have been disappearing?" Ratchet asked.

Cora nodded. "Planets like Cobalia, Kreeli, and Jasindu. All of which _were_ inhabited worlds."

"But why is Drek destroying planets?" Clank asked.

 _Alert, alert,"_ the computer said. _"Unauthorised access of classified files has been detected. Activating self-destruct sequence. Please evacuate the premises immediately."_

"You've got to be kidding me," Ratchet muttered.


	9. VIII: G34, Part Three

Chapter nine! :) Constructive criticism is appreciated. No flames please.

. . .

 _"Ship will self-destruct in twenty seconds. Would you like to compose your last will and testament?"_

"Hurry, we're almost there!" Cora ushered Ratchet towards the shuttle pod.

The Lombax nodded in reply and bounded towards the shuttle as the seconds ticked down. The trio managed to get inside, and Ratchet started the engines. "Inputting station coordinates!"

Within seconds, the shuttle undocked from the warship and started heading for the Blarg station. It wasn't a moment too soon. The warship exploded, sending debris flying through space. That Blarg wanted the ship destroyed- that was precisely what happened.

The shuttle docked with the station, and Ratchet (after reactivating his helmet) stumbled into the hangar, panting. Cora followed suit, only she acted as though she hadn't broken a sweat. "Alright, c'mon slacker," she said, walking up to a door, equipping the Trespasser. "Let's get moving. We aren't finished yet." She stuck the Trespasser in the lock and started hacking it. Within moments, the door was open.

Ratchet and Cora walked inside and headed down a small corridor. Both equipped their Combusters, just in case.

"Oxygen levels are normal," Ratchet said, deactivating his helmet.

 _"Attention scientists!"_

Ratchet jerked his head up and looked around, gripping his Combuster tighter.

"That sounds like Chairman Drek!" Clank exclaimed.

 _"Chairman Drek here. I just wanted to thank you for all your hard work these last few months. I may be your leader, but I am nothing without the tenacious Blarg here at this facility."_

"How very touching," Ratchet said sarcastically.

"Hmm…"Cora halted, thinking.

Ratchet looked up at her, frowning. "What?"

"Just thinking," Cora replied.

"Yes, that's been happening a lot lately with pretty much everyone around me," Ratchet continued.

Cora ignored him. "C'mon, let's go."

Ratchet shrugged and followed her down the corridor into a small room with a forcefield leading to another hall. A little hacking with the Trespasser and they were on their way. Of course, Drek had to announce their presence. _"It's been brought to my attention that we may have an intruder at the facility. If you come across anyone who is not a Blarg, please, feel free to kill them."_

"Of course," Ratchet muttered.

"At least we are not being mauled to death by unsightly creatures," Clank pointed out.

The group headed down the hall into a larger room, with a set of platforms leading up to a Swingshot target.

Cora leapt onto the first platform, then the next, then another, and another. Ratchet followed suit. Then, by the end of that sequence of Swingshot targets, they landed on a platform where a group of Blarg soldiers were waiting for them.

"Kill the intruders!" the leader of the group ordered, equipping his blaster.

Ratchet threw in a grenade just as the Blarg started shooting at them. It was not a pretty end for the Blarg. Ratchet and Cora then ran past the incinerated bodies into another room. It was filled with lava, with rocky platforms above the surface of the boiling hot liquid.

"I am detecting –"

"Hey!"

Clank was interrupted by a voice calling from a metal platform set a ways away, high above the lava. A Blargian scientist stood there, looking down at the group. "Attention, intruder! You have entered the testing facility for a Blargian Snagglebeast! Chairman Alonzo Drek thanks you for your sacrifice!"

A Blargian Snagglebeast, which had been clinging to the rock ceiling above, leapt down in front of the group.

Cora let out a sigh. "Okay, I'm bored." She equipped her Warmonger and blasted the Snagglebeast with a bombardment of missiles. The Snagglebeast clutched its bleeding wounds and fell backwards off the edge of the rocky platform into the lava.

 _"The subject appears to have fallen into the lava, sir…"_

The Blargian scientist looked at his colleague, who was shielded behind glass and standing in front of a console. "Stop being negative, Jim. He's not done yet."

Meanwhile, Ratchet stared at Cora, jaw dropped in amazement. "Will you marry me?"

Cora gave him a glare and Clank chuckled with amusement. The Blargian Snagglebeast wasn't done yet, though. It crawled out of the lava, hacking. Blood dripped from its gaping maw.

"How can that thing still be alive?!" Ratchet exclaimed in disbelief.

"Because we created him to survive even the heat of lava!" the Blargian scientist called gleefully. "Have fun, Lombax! Your father will be so pleased when you and your meddlesome Rangers have been dealt with!"

"He's… _not…_ MY FATHER!" Ratchet equipped his Spiral of Death and went all out on the Blargian Snagglebeast. But even after he ran out of ammo, the Snagglebeast was still up and at it.

The creature snapped at Ratchet and Cora, forcing the two to dodge. Both Ratchet and Cora bombarded the Snagglebeast with their Warmongers' missiles. The Snagglebeast finally met its end, and backed into the platform the Blarg scientist was standing on.

"Eep!" The Blarg ran and jumped off the platform to the rocky ground below before the Snagglebeast could crush him. The Blarg's partner Jim wasn't so lucky, as the room he was in was smashed by the Snagglebeast, whose body now slid down the side of the platform into the lava.

Ratchet and Cora walked up to the Blargian scientist, who was on his knees, panting. He spotted them approaching and started panicking. "Ack! I yield! I yield! Please don't kill me!" The red reptile raised his arms protectively over his face.

Ratchet frowned. "Look, we're not going to kill you, okay? Just tell us why Drek is destroying planets."

"Hey, _I'm_ the one who asks the questions here, Lombax!" Cora snapped.

Ratchet gave her a look that said "What the heck is your problem?", then turned back to the Blarg scientist, who seemed somewhat relieved that he wasn't going to die.

"Oh, oh!" The Blarg pulled an infobot out of his pocket. "Look, I don't know all what Drek's planning, but here, watch this infobot transmission! It's not much, but it should help you out a bit. Bye!" The Blarg then took off in a crazed panic.

A screen popped out of the infobot and revealed a face that Ratchet recognised immediately. "Wha…?"

The recording then started. _"Greetings, Blarg imbeciles. If you are watching this infobot, you have been selected for the Beta trial of my latest invention… the XK-81 Jetpack. Though initial testing had a few setbacks, I am happy to report that I worked out all of the kinks. Now you can use your XK-81 Jetpack to traverse the sky, giving you an advantage over those morons on the ground! The XK-81 Jetpack. Come pick yours up at our base on Gaspar."_

Then another voice said, _"Doctor Nefarious is not responsible for death, dismemberment, or irreparable injury to your central nervous system."_

Ratchet was frowning, in thought. Cora then asked, "How could he still be alive?"

"Say what?" Ratchet turned to her quizzically.

"Nefarious is supposed to be dead," Cora told him. "He was killed in a prison breakout! Witnesses proved-"

"Cora," Ratchet interrupted, "people will say or do anything for the right price. That's what my father told me, anyway."

"Yeah… about that," Cora spoke, glaring at the Lombax. "How exactly is your father tied into this?"

"He's _not_ my father," Ratchet said. "He means nothing to me anymore. Not after he…"

"Not after he _what?"_ Cora demanded.

"It doesn't matter," Ratchet replied evasively.

"It does matter if your father is involved with Drek!" Cora snapped.

"Just leave it!" Ratchet shot back. "Just leave it! I knew I shouldn't have come here! I should've just left this galaxy the second Clank was in your hands, but nooooo! I stayed and helped you out and now here I am being interrogated just because you think _I'm_ the bad guy!"

"Please!" Clank interrupted. "If we are to stop Chairman Drek, we must not fight amongst ourselves."

Cora sighed. "He's right. Let's just go and check out Gaspar. Maybe we can learn something more there."

The group headed back to the hangar, where their ships were waiting.


	10. IX: Gaspar, Part One

**Chapter ten! Alright, so the question... why did it take me so long to write this chapter? Well, lately I've lost a little enthusiasm for this story. So I'm going to take a method from RevantReepor337's book and take a break from this story. By the way, her RaC stories are awesome, so check 'em out! :) Alright... how long will this break last? Probably a few days at least. I dunno.**

 **Anyway, now to reply to a review.**

 **The White Guardian: I must say I'm intrigued to see where this AU is heading. At first glance it seems as if the characters are more intertwined and have more to them than in the original story.**

 **That said, there are a few parts in this chapter where I think slight improvements could be made. The part where XJ-0461 jumps off the conveyor belt in response to the scanner identifying him as a defect seems a bit emotionless, it'd probably benefit from Clank having a brief moment of realization before acting. I don't know how to word it well, so please bear with me - I'll just rewrite a few lines to illustrate what I mean:**  
 **"As if it could anticipate the young robot's confusion, the mechanical arm suddenly emitted a bright, red cone of light, before slowly scanning the small automaton. Said robot was quite impressed by the show of light, but sadly, said luminous display was for a nefarious purpose, and the robot nearly jumped as the facility's alarms suddenly went off.**

 **As if that wasn't bad enough, the arm specified what exactly had happened. "Defect detected!" it blared seemingly as loudly as possible. "Preparing for immediate destruction, in three... two..."**

 **The young defect, in sheer panic, threw itself off the conveyor belt which, on second thought, may not have been the best solution, given that he hadn't bothered to check if there was anything for him to land on."**

 **I hope you can see what I mean. It's a brief moment of interaction between XJ-0461 and the mechanical arm, but it helps with the immersion by detailing thing such as ambient sound, or the defect's impulsive reaction. It doesn't require and shouldn't require a long narrative, but it's little details like that that make a scene seem complete, just like how a bathroom or a kitchen would seem odd without little bottles and flasks and such to dress it up. No matter how great the furniture, it feels off without the details.**

 **Another example is when Victor manages to hit the escape pod. All we know is that it make the shuttle shudder, but we don't really see Clank's reaction to this. Granted, he looks unfazed in the source material, but that's just weird - he narrowly escaped being dismantled, then being dissected by a towering brute. It'd probably benefit from XJ0461 relaxing somewhat as the shuttle gains altitude, before fear coming back in full as the ship gets hit.**

 **Then there were a few sentences that felt a bit... off.**  
 **"a large robot started thundering" feels a bit off, and if I'm really honest I think it'd better be rephrased to something like "thundering footsteps stalking the defect announced the presence of a colossal machine"**

 **"smashed the visor" feels weird to read, it'd probably be better with the word 'visor' replaced with 'windshield', or 'cockpit window'.**

 **Then there's Ratchet's implied past history with the Blarg. I applaud you on this concept, it's a really neat idea and I'm curious as to where you'll be taking it. However, it was introduced somewhat hastily for the importance it has. For example, imagine Ratchet noticing a Blarg and having a moment of shock at recognizing the species before acting, like having him notice the Blarg without the Blarg noticing him, and having him rush out of view, like pressing himself around the corner to process what he has seen. This both helps with immersion, and with giving the reader insight as to how this encounter exactly affects Ratchet.**

 **Ratchet's journey to the crash site feels like it could be fleshed out more, as currently pretty much the entire journey is wrapped up in a single sentence. Increasing this length helps with chapter length, immersion, and pacing, because currently the entire journey to a crash site is given less screen time than a brief conversation with Mr. Micron.**

 **All in all I think you've made a great start, and I'm excited to see where you take this story!**  
 **Take care,**  
 **TWG**

 ** _Reply: Wow, this is probably one of the longest reviews I've ever gotten (the other really long one I got was from TheLilyoftheValley, but that was for another story. :) Thanks for the help, Guardian. I've applied pretty much everything you said I should do except for lengthening the level. I'll get to that eventually, but I'm still working it out. Anyway, looking forward to hearing more from you soon! :)_**

. . .

 _Gaspar, a ways outside the Blarg facility…_

Ratchet and Cora's ships landed on Gaspar. The planet was coated in a sea of lava, with few pieces of land poking out of it. If it weren't for the Raritanium reserves on this planet, no one would want to come here. But pure Raritanium was in high demand, and thus this planet was a gold mine.

It wasn't exactly somewhere you'd want to have a honeymoon or summer vacation, though. Even a War Grok would think twice before coming here.

"Great, more lava," Ratchet muttered as he hopped out of his ship.

Clank jumped onto his back and replied, "At last we are not in it."

Cora approached the duo and said, "I've informed Captain Qwark and Grim of our progress."

Ratchet nodded. A few moments passed before he said, "You know that infobot Clank and I got from the Plumber guy on Novalis? I was thinking that maybe Drek is destroying planets so that he can _build_ his own. He did say that the Blargian homeworld was polluted. Maybe he's trying to make a new planet for his people."

"I thought the same thing," Cora replied. "But something tells me there's more to it if Nefarious is involved."

Ratchet winced at the mention of Nefarious, but thankfully Cora didn't notice. "We should probably get moving."

Cora nodded. Equipping their Combusters, they walked down a small, sandy path. Large boulders were strewn about the dunes. Up ahead was a small cave. Ratchet and Cora halted in front of the entrance.

"You sure this cave leads to the base, Clank?" Ratchet asked.

"My scans do not lie," Clank replied. "This cave directly leads to the Blarg base."

Ratchet nodded in response. They headed into the cave, and the Lombax immediately wrinkled his nose at the stench. It smelled like a whole lot of things _died_ in there.

Lined along the walls and ceiling were plants that glowed a soft orange, shining against the pitch-black obsidian. Tiny brown spiders with heavy shells scurried behind the obsidian boulders. Ahead was a group of one-eyed centipede like creatures. And they did not look happy that Ratchet and Cora decided to invade their retreat.

"RRRROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!" The nearest creature took a snap at Ratchet. The Lombax flipped backwards and shot point blank it in the head with his Combuster. Another one of the critters tried to bite Cora, but got a scorched face for all its trouble.

The remaining five aliens wised up to the fact that they couldn't defeat the Rangers individually, so they ganged up and attempted to attack them in a group.

One pair of aliens charged at Ratchet while the other three went for Cora. Ratchet ducked as one of the aliens tried to chomp down on his face. The Lombax pointed his gun at the creature's throat and pulled the trigger.

The alien slumped to the side, dead. Ratchet, switching to his Pyrocitor, then dodged a snap of the other creature's jaws. The Lombax aimed his weapon at the alien and a burst of flames came out the barrel, killing the creature.

By that time, Cora had finished off her attackers. "C'mon, rookie," Cora said, sounding rather bored despite the situation. "This isn't a picnic."

Ratchet nodded as they walked down the path. Nothing else creepy-crawling around so far…

"Cora, according to my files you were the youngest Ranger to ever join the Galactic Rangers," Clank spoke, trying to make conversation. "Why do you join them?"

"None of your business, tin-can," Cora told him rudely, ending the conversation. How antisocial.

The group descended a small inclined path, which was a ways above a large pool of boiling lava. Out of the ground popped a small band of Teratropes. The creatures were brought down easily with a few shots of Cora's blaster, as they were dimmer than a match in a damp cave.

Ratchet and Cora reached the bottom of the path, where pieces of land stuck out of the lava, leading up to another path on the other side. Cora took the lead, leaping from one piece of land to another. Then, because the last piece of land was a bit higher than the others, she had to climb. Cora clambered up over the edge and stood up, turning to look at Ratchet. "Your turn rookie. Time to show your stuff."

Ratchet nodded, copying Cora's motions exactly. When he reached the spot where he would have to climb, he said to Clank, "Okay, Clank. Heli-Pack time in three, two, one!"

The boost from Clank's Heli-Pack got him part of the way up, but there was still quite a bit of climbing left. The Lombax inched his way up the rock wall, and all the while Cora was giving him insults.

"Wow, you're moving like a snail, rookie."

"I'm getting old up here. Hurry up!"

"I thought you Lombaxes were supposed to be quick on your feet."

Ratchet crawled up over the side of the edge, and after a moment of resting, stood up. He gave Cora a glare. "Right… ladies first."

Cora glared right back. "I'm not a lady."

"You got that right, jerk," Ratchet muttered.

Unbeknownst to him, Cora heard that. "What did you just say?!" She spat.

"Um, Ratchet, Cora," Clank tried to intervene. "I am detecting-"

"You heard me!"

"Please stop arguing-"

"You know, I'm really starting to not like your attitude," Cora said to Ratchet, a warning note in her voice.

"Really? Cause I'm not liking _your_ attitude either," Ratchet retorted.

"ENOUGH!" Clank's voice reverberated throughout the cave loud enough to the point where it caused a tremor. Some weak pieces of rock fell away from the walls, but other than that, thankfully the cave remained stable.

Ratchet and Cora looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Do tremors often occur here?" Ratchet asked.

"Not on this part of Gaspar," Cora answered slowly. "It's very rare for a quake to hit this area."

Clank knew that what occurred was no earthquake. He quickly ran a diagnostic on his power levels and saw that there had been a spike a few moments ago. He quickly created a program to alert him should his power levels do that again. Clank had to keep his powers in check.

"I have scanned the area," Clank lied, "and it appears there was a brief shifting of the tectonic plate we are standing on, which had caused the seismic tremor we felt. I suggest that we get out of this cave as soon as possible."

"Agreed," Ratchet replied as he and Cora headed further into the cave, where they encountered a few more centipede creatures. Said centipedes met their untimely demise by means of Ratchet's Warmonger.

Suddenly from the ceiling leapt a group of slimy, lizard like creatures. Their faces were disfigured and twisted as though someone had taken a knife to their faces, cut them, and then sown them back together in a major mix and match manner. Their yellowed teeth were similar to that of a saber toothed tiger's, and their drooling, gaping maws didn't help their appearance in the slightest.

The creatures decided that they would make a lunch out of the newcomers and paid for this unwise decision by getting fried by a Pyrocitor.

"Oh dear," Clank murmured when he saw the carcasses as Ratchet and Cora continued down the path. "This is not good."

"What'ya mean?" Ratchet asked.

"Those creatures you just killed are called Malums," Clank told them. "Not unlike the fire ants on planet Tenemule, these creatures have a powerful queen that commands the hive. And… the queen is much larger and more territorial than the Malum drones. I recommend proceeding with caution."

"Those Malums didn't put up much of a fight," Ratchet said. "And we took out a Blargian Snagglebeast not too long ago! I bet this Malum queen isn't that tough!"

Cora rolled her eyes. "Don't let it go to your head, rookie. You just might get yourself killed."

"Okay, spit it out," Ratchet snarled, turning to her. "Why do you hate me so much?"

Cora glared at him. "Instead of wasting time on useless conversation, maybe we should just stick to the mission, huh?!"

Ratchet winced for the second time that day before continuing walking. "Alright, alright. Yeesh. Cranky…"

"What was that?!" Cora snapped.

"Uh… I said 'thankee' for those words of wisdom!" Ratchet replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

As they rounded the corner, they suddenly came upon a large Raritanium crystal that poked out of the ground. Scattered about the path were a few more like it. The cavern itself had widened out by several metres on all sides, making the sight even more beautiful.

"Well, I'll be," Ratchet murmured in amazement. The glow coming from the plants lining the walls seemed to make the crystals shine.

Cora shrugged. "Yeah, I guess it's alright. C'mon."

Ratchet let out a growl of irritation but followed Cora past the pretty scene.

"Sensors are picking up a large lifeform not far ahead," Clank told them. "It may be the Malum queen."

Suddenly a rumbling sound could be heard. And it was getting closer.

"The lifeform is headed towards us!" Clank exclaimed.

"Quick, is there another route?" Cora asked.

"Scanning… yes. There is a tunnel round the corner that leads away from the lifeform," Clank replied. "However, I do not think-"

"No time, let's go!" Ratchet bounded towards the tunnel, Cora at his side.

But before they could reach it, a large lizard squirmed up to them. It looked down at the group and roared. Saliva dripped from its mouth.

"As I was saying," Clank spoke, "we would not have been able to reach it in time."

"How _do_ I get myself into these situations?" Ratchet muttered to himself.


End file.
